Video Courtesy: ANI       
In what will prove to be a major boost for Indian Army’s capabilities, Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) yesterday (11 September) successfully tested the indigenously developed low weight, fire and forget Man Portable Anti-Tank Guided Missile (MPATGM).

The tests were carried out in its ranges in Kurnool, Andhra Pradesh and were the third series of successful testing of MPATGM by the DRDO.
The MPATGM is the third generation of such systems to be developed for the Indian Army and incorporates state-of-the-art Infrared Imaging Seeker along with advanced avionics.

The missile was launched from a man portable tripod launcher and the target was mimicking a functional tank. The missile hit the target in top attack mode and destroyed it with precision. All the mission objectives were met as per a government press release.

The missile is derivative of the NAG weapon system. The other versions of the missile are the baseline vehicle-launched version and air-launched version HELINA. Earlier this year, the Ministry of Defence had cleared the purchase of 300 NAG missiles with 25 tracked launcher vehicles in a deal worth $70 million.

Currently, the Indian Army is using vintage missiles, including the imported Milan 2T and Konkurs Russian anti-tank missile in the infantry and the third generation ATGM was a pressing need. Recently, the Indian Army proposed to buy 3,000 Milan 2T ATGMs as a temporary arrangement. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh has congratulated the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) for the successful MPATGM test.

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